269 F.

2d 113

UNITED STATES of America, Respondent-Appellee,

v.
James DUHART, Petitioner-Appellant.
Nos. 347-348.
Docket 25217-25670.

United States Court of Appeals Second Circuit.

Argued June 11, 1959.
Decided July 22, 1959.

Emily Marx, New York City, for petitioner-appellant.

David P. Bicks, Asst. U. S. Atty., for Southern District of New York, New
York City (S. Hazard Gillespie, Jr., U. S. Atty., George I. Gordon and
Kevin Thomas Duffy, Asst. U. S. Attys., S.D. N.Y., New York City, on
the brief), for respondent-appellee.
Before HINCKS and MOORE, Circuit Judges, and SMITH, District
Judge.
HINCKS, Circuit Judge.

Duhart instituted the first of these proceedings by petition under 28 U.S.C. A.

2255. This challenged the validity of his sentence in 1955 to ten years'
imprisonment as a third offender against the narcotic laws, 21 U.S.C.A. 174.
His petition was denied and he appealed. Leave to appeal in forma pauperis
was granted and counsel was assigned.

While that appeal was pending, Duhart's assigned counsel brought a second
petition to test, under 2255, the validity of the 1955 conviction underlying the
allegedly illegal sentence which was the target of the first petition and to test,
under the All-Writs Act, 28 U.S. C.A. 1651(a), a 1949 conviction which was
one of the bases for Duhart's 1955 sentence as a third narcotics offender. This
petition was also dismissed. Leave to appeal in forma pauperis was granted by
this court and the two appeals were consolidated for hearing.

We shall consider first the attacks upon the two convictions, since each is a
basis for the 1955 sentence. At the outset, however, it must once again be stated
that proceedings by way of 28 U.S.C.A. 2255 or 1651(a) may not be used to
correct errors which occurred during the course of the trial. United States v.
Angelet, 2 Cir., 255 F.2d 383. Even alleged constitutional deprivations, if they
did not infect the validity of the convictions now under attack, are irrelevant for
purposes of these proceedings. We are forced to restate these elementary
principles in order to define the target which is somewhat obscured by the
smoke of the scattergun technique employed by appellant's counsel.

Essentially, Duhart seeks to widen the scope of attack upon these convictions to
include pre-conviction errors by allegations that he was ineffectively
represented by counsel, both in 1949 and 1955. We note, as did Judge Ryan,
that no affidavit in support of this motion was made by Duhart himself. Three
affidavits were submitted: the first, by a co-defendant in 1949, who at that time
pleaded guilty to the charge, but now protests her innocence; the second, by a
friend, is of no probative value; and the third, by Duhart's present counsel, is
obviously not based upon any personal knowledge of the facts. Duhart pleaded
guilty to the 1949 charge. It is argued that he would have been acquitted, if
advised to stand trial and given competent representation, because (1) the 1949
indictment charged possession of narcotics only, which is not a crime; (2) no
narcotics were in fact found in his possession, the chemist's analysis showing
the substance in question was Epsom Salts; and (3) in any case, the evidence
was secured through an illegal search and seizure and should have been
suppressed.

These contentions, in so far as they are based on matters of fact, are

unsupported by affidavits of probative value; indeed, in part, they are
contradicted by the record. In so far as they are based on claims of law, they are
erroneous. The chemist's analysis showed a trace1 of cocaine hydrochloride in
the substance seized. No showing was made, beyond the conclusory allegation
of counsel, that the search and seizure was illegal. Indeed, it appears that a
valid search warrant had been issued covering the apartment in which the
narcotics were discovered. And while it is true that "mere possession" of
cocaine is not an offense under the statute, 21 U.S.C.A. 174, this statute, on
which the indictment is expressly laid, places on the defendant, once possession
has been shown, the burden of explaining his possession to the satisfaction of
the jury. See Roviaro v. United States, 353 U.S. 53, 63, 77 S.Ct. 623, 1 L.Ed.2d
639. Even now, nothing is presented to us which suggests the existence of facts
in 1949 whereby the defendant could have sustained this burden. In short, in
1949 the defendant was represented by a skilled and experienced member of
the staff of the Legal Aid Society and we find in the record no basis whatever

to sustain the contention that his representation was incompetent or ineffective.

On the contrary, we think that his advice to Duhart, evaluated in the light of the
facts of the case as now disclosed, was consonant with the highly conscientious
standards of the Society. There was no flaw in the 1949 conviction.
6

Nor is the 1955 conviction, after trial, subject to any greater vulnerability.
Throughout that trial, Duhart was represented by a highly experienced member
of the New York Bar, a lawyer of his own choosing. Duhart now maintains that
another line of defense might have resulted in a judgment of acquittal. But even
now, with the aid of hindsight, it is far from clear that the strategy now
suggested would have been successful. And certainly, trial strategy, even if it
proves unsuccessful, is inadequate basis for an attack on the competence of
counsel. See United States v. Wight, 2 Cir., 176 F.2d 376, certiorari denied 338
U.S. 950, 70 S.Ct. 478, 94 L.Ed. 586; Kyle v. United States, 2 Cir., 266 F.2d
670. We hold that there is no basis for the charge of inadequate representation
during the 1955 trial.

Since each conviction must be upheld, we come to consider the claim of error
raised by Duhart's first petition, relating to the sentencing. Both Duhart and his
lawyer admitted several times during the course of the trial that he had two
prior convictions for narcotics violations. At the end of the trial, Judge Ryan
found Duhart guilty and on August 4, 1955 imposed the minimum mandatory
sentence of ten years for third offenders set forth in the statute. 21 U.S.C.A.
174. On the following day, it was discovered that no information had been
filed, as required by 26 U.S.C.A. 7237(c) (2). A second sentencing hearing
was immediately held and Judge Ryan revoked the August 4th sentence.
Thereupon an information was filed, and on August 5, 1955 the defendant was
resentenced to the same minimum mandatory term, with the same
recommendation that parole should be granted at the earliest eligibility date.

On this appeal, Duhart maintains that the first sentence, on August 4, 1955, was
illegal, absent the information. He also argues that the District Court had no
power to conduct the August 5 proceedings and that the resentencing exposed
him to double jeopardy. Acceptance of these arguments would mean that the
failure to file an information would prevent any sentencing at all, after a fair
trial and a valid conviction. The law does not countenance such a bizarre result.
In re Bonner, 151 U.S. 242, 14 S.Ct. 323, 38 L.Ed. 149. In Bozza v. United
States, 330 U.S. 160, 67 S.Ct. 645, 91 L.Ed. 818, the judgment was corrected to
bring the sentence into conformity with the mandatory minimum prescribed by
statute.

We hold that the sentence of August 4 was not invalid for lack of the statutory

information as to prior offenses. For the statute was intended to protect a

defendant from the effect of prior offenses incorrectly charged. Here both
Duhart and his lawyer had freely admitted the prior convictions in open court.
Perhaps these admissions might be viewed as a waiver of the information. But
at most, under these circumstances, the failure to file the information was
harmless error. It was so held under an identically worded statute, in Knight v.
United States, 9 Cir., 225 F.2d 55, certiorari denied 350 U.S. 890, 76 S.Ct. 148,
100 L.Ed. 784. See also Torres Rivera v. United States, 1 Cir., 232 F.2d 500.
But if, contrary to our holding, the August 4th sentence was invalid because the
multiple offender information had not been filed, we have no doubt that it lay
within the power of the court to correct the deficiency in the record and
resentence the defendant as was done. Bozza v. United States, supra.

10

Notwithstanding the vigorous prosecution of the pending motions by assigned

counsel, for which the thanks of the court are due, we are satisfied that the
appellant is entitled to no substantial relief and that, if the order in Docket
25217 be modified to provide for the reinstatement of the August 4th sentence,
the sentence in effect will be in full compliance with the law.

11

It is accordingly ordered that the order of January 29, 1959, Docket No. 25670,
be affirmed, and that the order of May 23, 1958, Docket No. 25217, be in part
affirmed and in part be reversed and remanded with a direction to vacate the
August 5th sentence and to reinstate the August 4th sentence.

Notes:
1

In context a "trace" means not an inconsequential quantity but rather a quantity

undetermined in amount